Diem Aeterna
by Extra Lives
Summary: “You've seen it yourself, no one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack. We're at war. One very specific man may be all that stands between humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence.”


**Erm, well, this is my first story. It's inspired by multiple different sources, and I'm sure you'll easily be able to see where they originate from. However, it's not following those sources, just inspired.**

**Please review, with either good feedback or bad, because I want to know whether this is worth following-up on, or whether I should start anew with a different story.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII**

–

Black smoke billowed out from the jeep that was now useless, the tires shredded by bullets and the dashboard pulverized by shrapnel. There was no way out. Lance Corporal Cloud Strife was pinned down by enemy fire and he was on his last clip.

Sparks landed on his blond spikes as he stole a peek over the piece of stone he was leaned up against. He didn't know what the enemy was. He was on his daily patrol, when suddenly he was attacked. Private Dyne was vaporized almost instantly, not being fast enough diving behind cover.

The shots originated from some beast, but what sort of beast Cloud couldn't tell. It was humanoid, but much larger, each of the four about seven and a half feet tall. Cloud blinked, trying to refocus. How four creatures could cause that much destruction crossed his mind, but he pushed it to the back, knowing he'd have to have a clear head to survive.

Cloud wasn't worried yet. He'd been in much worse situations. In the Mako Wars, when he was behind enemy lines with only a pistol, that was scary. Half a magazine of assault rifle ammo and his pistol still tucked into his holster, Cloud wasn't worried.

Thirty seconds later, his clip was emptied, and it didn't seem like the creatures would stop. Cloud tried calling for back-up again, but the radio still only emitted static.

He heard a pounding behind him and turned his head, looking away from the major threat, suddenly aware that they could have easily flanked him. He shut his eyes, firing his pistol without aiming, hoping to get a lucky shot off. Cloud Strife was officially worried.

"Holy Minerva watch where you're shootin' that thing!" A deep voice yelped as Cloud felt a hand push down on the pistol. Cloud opened his eyes to stare at a man with deep violet eyes, grimy black hair that stood up in uneven spikes, and ragged facial hair that was a tad more than five o'clock shadow, but not yet a full beard.

The man thrusted a new assault rifle into his hands, yelling over the gunfire, "You're a soldier right? Fire that damn weapon!" Cloud obliged, holding the rifle over his head and blind-firing over the rock wall.

Cloud glanced back at his savior, who was on a walkie-talkie. "Vincent, we need support _now_." Instantly, a red blur appeared out from behind a dumpster, dashing faster than any normal human before stopping next to Cloud.

A man clad in black fatigues wearing a tattered red cape materialized. "Are you ready?" He questioned. The violet-eyed man nodded.

"Enjoy the show," The man said with a wink before vaulting over Cloud's cover, assault rifle raised. The man named Vincent gave Cloud a brisk nod before following.

The thought that Cloud was going delusional popped into his head, but he shook it out, and looked over the wall once bullets stopped peppering it. What he saw made him open his mouth in awe.

The violet-eyed man was now wielding a shotgun, assault rifle strapped to his back. He fired each shot with precision despite being under fire, and each shot pushed the creatures further back. Vincent was once again a red blur as he moved past the other man. When he happened upon the creature in the first line of defense, Cloud could have sworn time slowed down as the man suddenly materialized again and leapt, spinning over the creature's head, firing a pistol at it's face. The creature fell, dead, as blue energy focused into his hand. When his feet hit the ground, Vincent let loose the energy and it blasted a creature of its feet. The other man was soon on top of the creature, shotgun pointed down. With a blast the creature's head was gruesomely blown to bits, and the man didn't even bat an eye.

To say Cloud was impressed was an understatement. He was amazed. These two men took down the unknown creatures with an unknown amount of finesse, and they performed actions Cloud though impossible.

"Vincent, secure the area, I'll make sure the Lance Corporal is a-okay," the man barked to Vincent, who nodded briskly before darting behind a building and disappearing from view. The man slipped his shotgun behind his back, where it hooked to a magnetic holster. He jogged over to Cloud, offering a hand to him.

"You okay?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips. Cloud took the man's hand and grunted as he was lifted up. His left side suddenly erupted into pain. It must have been a cracked rib.

"Who are you?" Cloud managed to make out between his twisted lips, the rest of his face distorted into a grimace.

"Name's Zack Fair. I'm an Austere."

"An Austere . . ." Cloud's voice trailed off in wonder, and Zack smirked.

"Come on, we better get you back to our ship, I'm guessing you have a cracked rib." Without waiting for a response, Zack his walkie-talkie back out. "Cid, we need evac. The package is intact, I repeat, the package is _intact_."

"Package?" Cloud asked, blinking rapidly as his vision began to fade.

"Long story, you'll be informed once you're all fixed up."

Cloud nodded slowly, letting himself lose the fight for conscious as he noticed himself falling, his vision fading to black.

–

"We're at war. You've seen it yourself, no one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack. One very specific man may be all that stands between humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence."

Zack stood at attention, his right hand in a brisk salute, a holographic monocle now strapped to his head, relaying information about Cloud Strife.

"Aye, sir," Zack replied. "We secured him. He's in the med-bay now. A few cracked ribs, nothing serious. Valentine and I managed to make to him in time."

"You are mistaken Mr. Fair. It is quite serious. Not only does he have cracked ribs, he is suffering from internal bleeding. We will be lucky if he can get up within the month"

Zack shook his head, raven hair swaying slightly. "Sir, I checked him out myself, there was no internal bleeding."

"You're a warrior, a spartan, an Austere. Not a doctor. I tell you, it is more than cracked ribs."

Zack's eyes narrowed, the monocle shutting off so he could glare with both of them. His hands were clasped together behind his back, clenching into fists slowly. "I am not sure if you are aware, but Austeres are trained in more than mere combat. I guarantee I am more certified than at least half of the doctors on this boat. Shinra, I don't know where you're getting your information, but your source is wrong."

"Professor Hojo is examining Strife personally, and he says there is internal bleeding."

Zack couldn't help himself as his temper flared. "That's your first problem! Hojo's a scientist, not a doctor! Gainsborough should be examining him and you know it!"

Rufus Shinra stood up from his chair, and raised an accusing finger at Zack. "You shall not criticize my judgment."

"I'll criticize your judgment if it's wrong," Zack replied between clenched teeth. "I'm assigning Gainsborough to Strife now."

"You will not undermine my authority!" Shinra roared.

"My ship, my rules. Cut the com Cid," Zack ordered. The hologram of Rufus Shinra disappeared.

"Don't make him impound the ship," Cid said over the com system, though there was a hint of humor in his voice. It was clear Cid shared the same discontent for Shinra as did Zack.

"Contact Dr. Gainsborough, send her to the infirmary to take care of Strife."

"You got it," Cid replied, and the static from the feed dissipated and Zack was left alone in the room. There would be hell to pay for this later.

–

Cloud groaned as he opened up his eyes. Though he could tell his pupils were dilated and everything was blurry, Cloud managed to make out the face of a girl. A beautiful girl, if he was seeing right. His mind made up that he must be dead. Those creatures that he faced, there was no way he lived through that.

"An angel?" He asked, bringing his hand up to clutch his head, which ached painfully.

The girl giggled. "No, my name's Aerith. I'm your doctor."

Cloud looked around, but he couldn't make out his environment. The girl said something, but for the life of him Cloud couldn't figure out what. "Heaven?"

Aerith shook her head. "You're on the _Avalanche._"

Despite his throbbing head, Cloud's vision slowly cleared and as he looked around, he confirmed that he was in some sort of infirmary. White tile on the floor, a sink in the corner, a glove dispenser hanging from the wall.

It all came back to him. Zack, Vincent, Dyne. He wasn't dead. "Where's the Austere?" Cloud asked, a sense of urgency attached to his voice that he didn't put there intentionally.

The door to the infirmary opened as Zack stepped through the door. His stubble was still present, and Aerith noticed as she saluted. "Commander Fair, you really should shave," she said.

"Noted, Gainsborough." He gestured towards Cloud. "How's Strife?"

Aerith grabbed a clipboard from the small desk sitting against the wall and flipped through a couple pages. "Despite what your initial diagnostics might have been, there _was _internal bleeding, I checked myself."

Zack cursed under his breath. "Did you patch it up?" He questioned. Aerith nodded. "You keep an eye on him, I'm going to go find Hojo."

Aerith laughed when she saw Cloud's face. "He usually isn't that terse. Hojo puts him on edge. Though I haven't asked him, I think it has something to do with Hojo creating the serum for the Austere program."

" . . . he really is an Austere?" Cloud asked.

Aerith nodded. "The only one left. Personally hired by Rufus Shinra himself to lead this suicide mission against the Weapons."

"Those are the creatures," Cloud said. It wasn't a question, more of a confirmation of the creature's name.

"We don't know where they came from, but they've been attacking human colonies from all over."

"Why am I here?" Cloud asked. It was a question that gnawed at him since he woke up. He should have been dropped off at his base, left to the medical facility there.

"Shinra decided that you would be one of the lucky that the Commander would recruit for his mission. He knows about your exploits during the Mako War." Aerith smiled at him, "If what I hear is correct, you should be able to take on Commander Fair in a fight."

Cloud blushed, unable to come up with a reasonable response to what Aerith had just said. "Erm, thanks . . ."

Aerith nodded, turning away from him and looking back down at her notes. "From my estimates, we managed to get you out of Hojo's grasp pretty early, Minerva knows what he was doing with you, so you should be out of bed within the week."

"But I feel fine. Except for this headache." It was true. Cloud did feel fine. Great, even. His ribs felt all healed, and as he wiggled his fingers, there was no sign of ache.

"Fine?" Aerith looked shocked. "You shouldn't be. Your ribs should still be healing. Even with my ability, you shouldn't be completely healed."

Cloud shrugged. "I feel great."

Aerith's eyes widened slightly as she hurried over to a com system, punching in a quick code as she asked, "What color are your eyes, Cloud?"

Cloud scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Blue, why?"

She ignored him, and when Zack's voice crackled over the com, Aerith spoke quickly. "Sir, Strife is showing reports of green eyes. Jenova green."

–

"Understood, give him a sedative, _now_," Zack ordered before shutting off the speaker in his ear, turning his attention back to the scientist in front of him. "What the hell did you do to him Hojo?"

Hojo was a small man, with greasy hair and a disturbing personality. Zack didn't want him on the ship, but because of Rufus, his hands were tied. "Why, I did nothing sir," Hojo spoke quickly, his high pitched voice making each word a bullet, "I was just unlocking the potential of Lance Corporal Strife."

"The potential?" Zack crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows at the scientist.

"When I looked at Strife's DNA, I saw that it was compatible with Jenova cells. Under Rufus Shinra's direct orders, I injected him with the cells. That's the cause for the internal ble-"

Hojo was cut off as Zack grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground, slamming him into the wall behind him. "I recruited Strife because of his abilities, not because of his _DNA_," Zack growled.

Zack dropped Hojo, who fell to the ground, glasses slipping off and tumbling to the floor. "If the experiment works though, he _is _the one who can save us from the Weapons. It's the only reason Shinra wants him on the team."

Zack turned from Hojo. Breathing heavily, barely containing his anger, he spoke slowly, deliberately. "Don't you touch him again. If we can't save the galaxy without Jenova's help, we weren't meant to save the galaxy."

–

**There you go, hope ya liked it! **

**The two main characters will be Zack and Cloud, and pairings are not yet decided. Any requests?**


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